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It’s around 4:00AM when Robby’s phone rings and buzzes on his nightstand. He answers as he rubs his eyes, still adjusting to being woken up so suddenly.
“Hello, is this Michael Robinavitch, the father of Trinity Santos?” The woman on the line asks.
“Yes. Who’s this?” He tilts his head skeptically.
“This Kelly with the office of the Pittsburgh PD.”
Robby’s heart sinks to his stomach and a wave of adrenaline washes over him as she speaks. His breath hitches.
“Trinity was detained along with a few other adolescents under probable cause for underage drinking, but she ended up testing zero percent on the breathalyzer. No charges are being pressed and she’s free to get picked up.”
“Oh god. Okay. I’m– I’m on my way.” He assures as he stands and starts rummaging around the room for his car keys. “Is she okay?” He interrogates.
“Yes, she’s fine. No injuries or anything.” He breathes just a little easier.
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Robby sits impatiently in the station waiting room, tapping his foot anxiously and looking over at the door every few seconds.
Finally, an officer opens the door and approaches with an uneasy-looking Trinity in tow. Robby stands and meets them in the center of the corporate-looking waiting room chairs. He pulls Trinity into a hug and holds her tight, one hand coming up to cradle her head.
She can hear him sighing with relief, inhaling and exhaling slowly as his body calms and regulates itself. After a few moments of Robby collecting himself, he pulls away from the hug and looks down at Trinity with a look of contempt and scorn.
He holds eye contact as he finally speaks. “Let’s go. C’mon.” It’s quiet. Restrained. It makes Trinity even more nervous.
“Thank you.” He gives a small wave and nods to the receptionist as they make their way out. He opens the door for Trinity and follows out behind her. She stops at the bottom of the steps, staring down at her feet and the concrete.
He points to the left and places a hand on the small of her back, guiding her to his car. He presses the unlock button the key fob, the locks clicking as they approach.
She tugs open the passenger door, the internal lights flickering on as Robby rounds the car to the driver’s side.
She’s not as used to this car as she is Jack’s, especially not the front seat. They only let her start sitting in the front seat again nearly two years ago, all because one time when she was thirteen she put her feet up on the dashboard.
They settle and buckle themselves in silence before Robby starts the car and slowly pulls out of the spot, driving away.
Trinity tries to distract herself by observing the surrounding neighborhood, but it’s so dark and still that it gets old really quick. Finally, she breaks the silence and turns to Robby.
“Are you gonna tell Dad?” Her voice is so timid, he can tell she’s really shaken and upset just from listening while he drives. He turns his head slightly to face her, looking back into her wide eyes.
“Uh, yes. I’m telling your dad. Why wouldn’t I?” He says flippantly.
“He’s just gonna be really mad.”
“You snuck out and got arrested, Trinity. Do you think I’m not mad?” He questions rhetorically. She knows he’s mad. His anger usually manifests into snapping and snide comments, so total silence feels like he’s even more livid.
“No, just– Dad is scarier about stuff like this sometimes.” She admits meekly.
Robby sighs. She’s not wrong.
He’s not intentionally scary, just extremely protective. He sees how encounters with the police can go wrong so often with both the SWAT team and at the hospital. But sometimes that means he comes down a little too hard.
“He just gets worried, hon. And he’s not wrong to. I mean, this whole night could’ve gone down really differently.”
She nods looking down at her lap. She knows it’s done. There’s no use trying to reason or fight anymore. Her dad is going to find out he’s going to be so mad.
“Who’s party were you at?” He questions.
“Emma’s.”
“Was there drinking? Were you drinking?”
“Obviously, I wasn’t drinking, Abba. The test said zero percent.” She pauses. “But yeah, other people were drinking.”
He purses his lips as he takes it all in for a beat. His anger is starting to fade slightly as he calms.
“How’d you get down from your window anyway?” He asks, tone having slightly shifted to be more inquisitive than interrogating.
“I didn’t. I just went through the front door. You sleep really heavily.” He huffs amusedly at that.
“Listen, I’m gonna talk to Dad when I go in for handoffs which is in–”, he draws out his last word as he looks at the lock on the radio.
“Two-ish hours. Me and him have to talk about what we’re gonna do about this. But I don’t want you to be scared of him. He loves you, and he only wants what’s best for you. Yeah?”
“Mhm.” She nods.
“I love you.” He says hopefully.
“I love you too. I’m sorry.”
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When they open the front door to their house, multiple of Robby’s jackets and coats are on the floor in the entryway.
“I was in a rush and couldn’t find my keys.” He says unabashedly when she giggles.
“You go get some sleep. We’ll talk more tonight, honey.” He says as he yawns. She makes her way to the stairs, but turns back to him as she starts walking up.
“Abba?”
“Yeah?” He replies as he sits on the couch to pull off his shoes.
“My bike is– kind of still at Emma’s house.”
He sighs. “I’ll go get it after work.”
“Thanks. I love you.” It’s the first time he’s seen her smile all night.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Robby walks into the ER for handoffs a few hours later with absolutely no idea how he’s going to break the news to Jack. He passes through the chairs of people, inside and to the nurses’ station where an exhausted-looking Lena and an upbeat-looking Dana greet him.
“Hey Robby. Long night?” Dana asks as she studies his heavier-than-usual eyebags.
“You have no idea, Dana. You seen Jack?” He asks as he looks around for his husband.
“Over there. Finishing all his charts up, I think.” Robby nods as he turns to walk toward Jack.
“Mornin’ baby.” Jack greets Robby as he walks up to him. Robby feels endlessly guilty that he’s about to ruin Jack’s morning.
“Hi Jack.” Robby says in a high-pitched voice, smiling almost unnaturally. “Okay, don’t freak out when I tell you this.”
Jack furrows his brow in suspicion of whatever Robby’s about to tell him. Robby inhales a slow, long breath for courage.
“Trinity snuck out and was detained by the police last night at a party but she’s home safe now and no there’s no charges being pressed.” He blurts.
“Are you fucking serious? Is she okay? Was she drinking?” He almost shouts. A few people in the room turn to look at them, not used to seeing Jack raising his voice like that.
“She wasn’t drinking, I picked her up and she’s totally fine now. I promise. She’s sleeping.” He tries to assure Jack.
“You left her alone, Robby? She sneaks out and gets arrested and you leave her home alone?” He questions.
“Hey– calm down. It’s okay. I know this isn’t good. But we need to be composed with how we handle this– we want her to trust us.” He pauses and looks down at the tabletop.
“She said you’re scary about stuff like this.” Robby tells him, biting his lip in worry that it’ll make Jack more upset.
This snaps Jack out of the feelings of anger. His eyes widen a bit. He never wants Trinity to feel scared of him. She’s his baby.
He brings his thumb and index fingers up to his face, rubbing his eyes while he thinks. “Okay. So what are we gonna do?” He speaks with a newfound softer tone.
“I think we let her off easy, Jack. She’s really shaken. I don’t think she’ll do it again. Grounded for two weeks?” He negotiates.
“Alright. I’ll talk to her when she wakes up.” He says as he stands from his chair.
“Be gentle.” Robby warns as he leans in for a kiss.
“I will. Promise.” Jack says against Robby’s lips.
“Alright, get outta here. I’ll see you later. Love you.” Robby smiles.
“Love you too.” Jack says as he pads off.
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When Jack pulls into the driveway, he shifts his car into park and sits. He sits for longer than one normally does once they arrive home.
Trinity doesn’t misbehave often, especially to this magnitude, he thinks. But that’s probably why she was so scared of his reaction. It’s uncharted territory for her.
He walks into a quiet house. He figures Trinity must still be sleeping, and decides to get a few hours of sleep in before she wakes up.
He sits on the edge of his and Robby’s bed, removing his prosthetic and climbing underneath the comforter. He sighs as he looks up at the still ceiling fan, just reflecting on the insane amount of emotions he’s had in the past hour.
Then, a bar of warm light is cast across the ceiling. His eyes follow it to the door, where he sees Trinity’s silhouette illuminated by the hallway light. He sits up.
“Dad?”
“Hi, baby.” He says as she approaches.
“I’m really sorry.” She tells him timidly.
“I know.” He assures.
“I wasn’t drinking.”
“I know you weren’t.” He nods.
“I’m sorry that I scared you and Abba.” Her voice croaks and her eyes well with tears. “I just really wanted to go and all my friends were gonna be there. I didn’t wanna be the lame one, like I always am.” She says as she starts crying.
“C’mere, baby.” He holds out his arms as she climbs next to him in the bed. He pulls her into his chest and nuzzles his face into her hair. It’s reassuring him as much as it is her.
“I know, honey. I know.”
As she calms down a bit, she pulls away slightly to look up at him. “Are you angry?” She asks.
“Yeah.” He says out of pure honesty. “When Abba told me, I was really scared. I didn’t know if you were hurt. I see so many bad things happen to people everyday. I see teenagers die.”
“For a second, I was scared I lost my everything.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t want to scare you.” She starts crying harder, and he pulls her in close again.
“It’s okay, baby. I got you. Daddy’s here. I’ve got you.” He shushes as she sobs.
They sit in silence for a bit, Jack letting Trinity feel it all.
“Abba told me something else today.” He mentions.
She looks up at him in confusion.
“He said you’re afraid of me when you make mistakes.”
She looks back down, ashamed to make eye contact in fear she hurt his feelings. She doesn’t really know what to say.
He reaches over and cups her cheek, bringing her face back up towards his.
“I never, ever want you to be afraid of me, baby. I want you to be able to come to me when things happen, even if you messed up. I’d so much rather you call me and tell me what’s going on over finding out from the police or on the news.” He tells her.
“I love you, Dad.” She whispers.
“Love you too, hon.” He replies. He pauses for a beat, then says, “You’re grounded for two weeks.”
“Hm. Fine. Will you make me breakfast when we wake up?” She asks hopefully.
“You know I will.” He nods.
“Just don’t ever do that ever again.” He says sternly as she drifts off to sleep next to him.